NASA has something they want to tell us (Earth, universe, aliens)
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We'll find out soon enough as to what is revealed in the conference. However, Universe Today suggests that it's probably nothing to get overly excited about.
It's about a bacterium found in a salt lake in the US that can use arsenic (!) and phosphor interchangeably to build its lipids, proteins and even DNA. This means that life on other planets, too, doesn't need to be based on the same six chemical elements that we always thought any life would consist of.
This means that life on other planets, too, doesn't need to be based on the same six chemical elements that we always thought any life would consist of.
I've never understood the rationale for this closed-minded, naive assumption. Why would anyone assume that all life in the universe must be based on the same chemical elements which comprise it here on little ol' earth?
"Gee, us humans are made out of carbon and oxygen and hydrogen and breathe air and require water and need certain ambient temperatures to survive. Thus, any alien life form must have the same requirements."
This boggles my mind.
Everyone knows there's more than one way to skin a cat, and it's much more likely that when we do encounter extraterrestrial life, it's composition WILL indeed boggle our minds. For all we know, the first alien life we find may be based on a rare (to us) isotope of unobtanium.
I've never understood the rationale for this closed-minded, naive assumption. Why would anyone assume that all life in the universe must be based on the same chemical elements which comprise it here on little ol' earth?
"Gee, us humans are made out of carbon and oxygen and hydrogen and breathe air and require water and need certain ambient temperatures to survive. Thus, any alien life form must have the same requirements."
This boggles my mind.
Everyone knows there's more than one way to skin a cat, and it's much more likely that when we do encounter extraterrestrial life, it's composition WILL indeed boggle our minds. For all we know, the first alien life we find may be based on a rare (to us) isotope of unobtanium.
Well, I guess it is a somewhat geocentric attitude
I've never understood the rationale for this closed-minded, naive assumption. Why would anyone assume that all life in the universe must be based on the same chemical elements which comprise it here on little ol' earth?
"Gee, us humans are made out of carbon and oxygen and hydrogen and breathe air and require water and need certain ambient temperatures to survive. Thus, any alien life form must have the same requirements."
This boggles my mind.
No reason to let it boggle your mind. It's only been limited by what we knew because there were no other known examples to draw from to make such a conclusive comparison. Having said that, it doesn't mean that life as we don't know it doesn't exist.
Darn, I was hoping they'd found some intelligent life on Earth.
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